Telugu Music Director Raj of Raj-Koti Duo No More, Final Rites Tomorrow

HYDERABAD: Tollywood music director Raj or Thotakura Somaraju breathed his last at his residence at Kukatpally in Hyderabad on Sunday. Raj had worked on the music of several Telugu movies along with his friend Koti and the duo was famous as Raj-koti. The duo had delivered several chartbusters.

It is learnt that Raj died of a heart attack after he slipped and fell in the washroom. The family rushed him to the hospital. However, doctors declared him dead brought dead. He was 68.

The Raj-Koti duo had directed music for some hit Telugu movies like Hello brother, Govinda Govinda, Muta Mestri, Karthavyam and Khaidi No.786 among others. In a career that spanned a decade, the duo composed music for about 180 films. Out of their 3,000 songs, about 2,500 songs were sung by singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and K. S. Chithra. The Raj-Koti duo was among the many prominent South Indian composers for whom A. R. Rahman has worked as a keyboard programmer for eight years.

Raj had also worked solo in the films — Sisindri, Premante Idhera and Ramudochadu. The music director is survived by his daughters Swetha, Divya and Deepthi.

The final rites of Raj will take place at Mahaprasthanam in Hyderabad.

Soon as news of Raj's demise broke, Tollywood celebrities poured in their condolences to the family of the deceased. Twitter has been flooded with condolences for the departed soul.

Tollywood Megastar Chiranjeevi expressed shock over the news of his death.